Forced Unionization of Gig Drivers in Massachusetts

Question 3 on Massachusetts' November 5th ballot asks a bland question.

Should independent-contractor drivers using apps to find passengers have an "option" to form a union?

The first key to comprehending this question is its enormous length—7,315 words. In this book-chapter length question, its union authors serve up a choice that allows no alternatives.

In shorthand language, this huge bill proposes a "Hobson's Choice." Hobson rented his horses, and Hobson chose the steed you would ride. You didn't get a choice with Hobson. Ballot Question 3 offers gig drivers the same choice.

Gig drivers who devote six to ten hours to comprehend this bill will figure out the second key: readers need to diagram Question 3's complex "option" to understand how it intends to organize a union.

New Jobs America has diagramed the proposed "option" to form a union of gig drivers, shown in the attached "How Gig Drivers in Massachusetts Will Be Unionized." Save time and use our brand-new tool.

The third key to understanding Question 3 is how few drivers will make the decision.

— Half of all drivers will never "qualify" to choose or avoid unionizing. Hardest hit will be moms, retirees, and new and occasional drivers.

— One quarter of the "qualified" half of all drivers, that's 12.5 percent, can "card-check" an exclusive union into being.

— "Card check" means an unverified signature that might not be yours on a card or a petition become your "approval."

— In a low-turnout election envisioned by the legislative drafters, a simple majority of even a handful of voting drivers can approving. There's no lower limit. Ginning up pro-union voters is an act unions excel at.

— And the fourth key is realizing that drivers wishing to rejecting a union later face a practical impossibility, shown below in Lines 6 and 7.

Beyond these unappetizing restrictions on individual freedom, Question 3 has many thousand other words, making Question 3 an unappealing prospect for self-employed independent gig drivers.

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